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Congress: Costs $1T, saves $104B

"The House Democrats' health care plan would cover 36 million more Americans at a cost of $1.055 trillion over the next decade, while slashing the federal deficit overall by $104 billion, according to a preliminary Congressional Budget Office score released late Thursday."

The New York Times: "Even so, the budget office said that the costs would be fully offset by cuts in the growth of Medicare and by new fees and taxes on individuals, families and businesses. Thus, it said, the bill would reduce projected federal budget deficits by $104 billion over 10 years."

The GOP spin machine seems to be back up and running after a hiatus. "House Republican leaders want their members to call the 1,990-page Democratic health measure 'the Pelosi healthcare bill.'" And why not? Pelosi is an unpopular figure nationwide, as the latest NBC/WSJ poll shows that just 26% of the country views her favorably, compared with 42% who don't. (There is some disagreement, however, among GOPers. Joe "You Lie" Wilson is opting for the "Pelosi takeover.")

Rut-roh. The Washington Post reports, "House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July. The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and it was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations. The committee said Thursday night that the document was released by a low-level staffer."